Located in the northern part of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, Mayapán was the last great city of the Maya, flourishing from about A.D.1200 to 1450. The densely settled city is surrounded by a 5.6 miles long Great Wall, and the authors estimate the peak population at 15,000 to 17,000. According to legend, Mayapán, like Tula and Chichén Itzá, was founded by Kukulcan, a great priest and statesman. Despite its size, monumental architecture, and significance, Mayapán is seldom visited by tourists.
This expansive volume details many years of research by the authors at this great site, focusing largely on the domestic aspects of the city. They consider top-down strategies illustrated in the monumental buildings as well as bottom-up strategies revealed by their household archaeology. But differentiating royal and working classes is more difficult and complex than it might first appear.
Kukulcan’s Realm is an in depth study of a great city that prospered at the very end of the Maya era. The authors have used the latest archaeological techniques to coax plentiful new information from the ruins. This volume is a highly enlightening report on that research.
